Green Star Polyp Being Eaten By Worms? Flow Issue? Help!

Emmettdogg

New member
Hello, My name is Emmett, and I am new to the hobby as well as this is my first forum post... Ever.... :wavehand:
Currently I have a 4 month old 10 gallon nano aquarium (I have gotten the "That's not going to work out for you" Speech more times then I would like) with a hang on the back filter and a bag of Chemi-Pure Elite inside helping to keep Phosphates down. I have a terrible 48 led light, use a 40 gallon rated heater, and I do a 10% water change every week with Distilled water.

Oh yeah, I also don't have a power head. :facepalm:

A few months back I purchased a small colony of greenstarpolyp, and they were doing great for about 2 months until about a month ago the colony closed up completely. Reading about this normally being a behavior of gsp, I let them sit for about 2 weeks until recently where I brought them under closer inspection to find clear long worms had created a crystal like tube and were entering in and out of it partially. (Multiple at time photo was taken)

Unsure if they had anything to do with the polyp closure, I dipped the coral in Bayer following a guide I found on the internet with 1.5 ml per oz. Nothing happened. When I dipped the coral, I broke the tube to find it having regrown even bigger over night.

Waiting another 2 weeks until now, they are still closed up and are looking somewhat wrinkly rather then the smooth purple they were before. :headwalls:

So I fragged off a large part that was further away from the worm and had grown in the time after I had purchased it. I put this part about 5 inches away on a flatter rock in my tank, and moved the now 2 frags away from the area where they were once prosperous on the sand afraid that perhaps these long clear skinny worms could potentially be hiding in the sand.

However, I do see an occasional single polyp open however, the tips of what was a bright green starred hand is partially black or even gone. (Worms eating it?)

Anywhom, they haven't opened up since I moved them and I ended up moving the filter and them (The frags being on the far left of the tank and the filter in the far right facing towards the front) I am beginning to think that perhaps flow is my issue rather than the worms. Before the fragment of gsp was in the right corner closest to the front glass and the filter on the left wall of the aquarium.Flow was more existent before when the polyp was thriving rather than now.

Could flow be my problem rather then the worms?
(If any new equipment is needed, please specify specs)

Tank Info:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 7.5 - 10 ppm
PH: 8.0

(Don't Own a Reef Test Kit)

6 Assorted Snails,
2 Nassarius Snails,
3 Hermit Crabs

Xenia Colony (Doing Well)
Palythoa Colony (Taking over Rock)
Green Star Polyps (Obiously)
Zoanthids ("Died" mysteriously despite bacterial treatment and bayer dips.)

Sorry If this is in the wrong section or if I missed anything. I am enjoying this hobby so far and look forward to seeing you all in the message boards.
 

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Why don't you have a power head? You can just get a simple one for like $16 if I recall the correct price when I last browsed my LFS.

Anyways IME GSP likes medium to high flow so I think that will help the issue


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Why don't you have a power head? You can just get a simple one for like $16 if I recall the correct price when I last browsed my LFS.

Anyways IME GSP likes medium to high flow so I think that will help the issue


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, Ordering 2 Hydor Koralia Nano 240s right away :D
 
Cool. Even if it doesn't help the more water movement the better for the creatures of all types I think (except for stuff like sea horses haha). Report back and let us know if it helps. When I first put GSP in my tank it took a few days to open up and now it is happy and slowly growing


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gsp like any coral can be a funny one.. i had a beautiful rich green section of it on a rock that was great for about 4mths then one day closed up and within a few weeks the mat had broken up and vanished? i now have more that is growing at a a vissible rate.. so you never no with any coral what will do well in each tank and why.. all we can do is keep perametres as stable as possible and research the best possible growing techniques. but i no my gsp is doing better in high flow : ) ive tried pullsing zenia before and its never taken, yet my friend has it at epic rates that he has to keep pulling. so what grows for one wont necessarily grow for another even tho our salts and perametres are matched? Good flow is always key tho so improve that and it will definitely help your tank : )

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GSP likes really strong flow. Shoot one of the powerheads at it. It may be too far gone, but if not, you should start seeing activity within a couple of days.
 
worms are generally clean-up-wounds critters. They eat the rot, leaving healthy tissue alone.
 
I find this somewhat untrue

I find this somewhat untrue

GSP likes really strong flow. Shoot one of the powerheads at it. It may be too far gone, but if not, you should start seeing activity within a couple of days.


This is not always true..

I have several GSP Colonies.. One is HUGE covering a rock that is about 10x14 inches. It has very little extension on its polyps and its mat is smaller then most i have seen. This piece likes to be close to the sand bed in low flow.. If i put it in a high flow or very high light its polyps will go in.. I EVEN Tried adjusting it around in different locations slowly... This one is prob 7-8 years old.
Second one i have is on a smaller rock ptob 5x8 inches it has huge polyp extensions and a thick mat. its color is a bit brighter kinda a yellowish tint and DOES Best in high volume high light area..

The 3rd piece is from one of the two above that find its way onto a piece of tonga branch that has covered the whole branch that looks like a small tree. It has small polyps with a very fine matt and will grow fine no matter where in my tank i put it..

Maybe the get conditioned to a certain area or maybe they are different sub species i do not not know.. But this is true with a lot of corals . two identical corals often do not enjoy the exact placement..

Just my observation and Study from my Tanks over the last two decades ..

When i have a new coral and it does not seem to be doing well i move it and usually it will improve or change somewhat... eventually you find that sweet spot for that species...

Erica Renee .. :fish1:
 
Quick Update:
Thank you all for replying with your own experiences, I much appreciate hearing them all as well as a waterfall of information and tips.

On a Fortunate Note:


Today I woke up to find that one of my snails had knocked the larger older frag onto the sand and had moved it several inches to where it was oriented upright and even several polyps open, which is brand new compared to the several weeks before.

While the powerheads are still in the mail and I hope to see them Tuesday, the fragment that I fragged off to ensure a better chance of keeping one colony around opened up almost fully with small polyps, but who cares about the size, Its alive!

The worms that were once inside the older frag ended up moving into the rock away from the frag before it was moved. Even if they were somehow predatory, they are further away now.

I feel more confident now after sitting down to enjoy what little victory I had, and while doing so noticing an extremely similar worm on the other side of the tank just hanging out in the rock structure. I'm now not close to being worried anymore about the possibility of the worm being predatory. The horror stories get around of a crazy variety of predators you could find in a tank. I let it get a bit out of hand in my mind I will admit. :)

Good luck to you all with your own systems. Soon enough I surely will be thirsty for a larger saltwater reef. Until then you could say I will 'ride the waves as they come' with my new powerheads :lolspin:
I think everything in my tank will greatly benefit from better flow as I currently see my Xenias are droopy in the dark and detritus favoring a large variety of spots.

I will update again with changes that occur with my new powerheads.
 
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